Peng is the Dean of the People's Liberation ArmyArt Academy. She gained popularity as a soprano singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed mainland Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year.[3] She has won many honors in singing competitions nationwide.[3] Her most famous singles include People from Our Village (父老乡亲), Zhumulangma (珠穆朗玛) and In the Field of Hope (在希望的田野上). Peng was a civilian member of China's People's Liberation Army and held the civilian rank equivalent to major general before she was appointed the Art Academy's dean, upon which she was given the formal rank.[3] She was the first in China to obtain a Master's degree in traditional ethnic music when the degree was established in the 1980s.[4]

Xi and Peng were introduced by friends like many Chinese couples in the 1980s. Xi was reputedly academic during their courtship, inquiring about singing techniques.[3] Xi was the son of famous Chinese revolutionary Xi Zhongxun, and Peng's family obviously accepted the relationship with ease, due to his attitude. After parental consent, the couple married on September 1, 1987 in Xiamen, Fujian. Four days later, Peng Liyuan returned to Beijing to appear in the national art festival and then immediately left for the United States and Canada to perform. Since then they have led largely separate lives, with Peng spending most of her time in Beijing and her husband in Fujian and later Zhejiang.

Right after the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989, Peng Liyuan sang for martial-law troops. A photo shows the scene that Peng, wearing a green military uniform, sings to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in rows on Beijing's Tiananmen Square was swiftly scrubbed from China's Internet "to avoid a tide of excitement". But the image was seen and shared by outside observers. The image is a snapshot of the back cover of a 1989 issue of a publicly available military magazine, the People's Liberation Army Pictorial.[8][9][10][11]

1 - Wife of Hua Guofeng / 2 - Wife of Deng Xiaoping both are the de facto paramount leader of the PRC / parentheses - spouse of the de jure Head of State under the 1975 Constitution & 1978 Constitution